Other Chinese religion
This page is for a few extra chinese religions that aren't big enough for their own pages. Yangism There's an ancient philosophy called Yangism, which was seen as an early form of ethical egoism. And saw goodness as basically doing things for yourself, since it was in the nature of all beings to be self interested and even the state was an obstacle if it tries to force you to work for the greater good in any sense. Though not much remains known about it that can be told. Its thought that a few aspects of it made their way into taoism, though converted to be less overtly selfish. The Yangist philosophers believed in the importance of maintaining self-interest through "keeping one's nature intact, protecting one's uniqueness, and not letting the body be tied by other things. Note that an added chaotic aspect of this is that as the confucians and mohists both specifically argued that "heaven" is in a sense where morals come from, yangism rejected this and tied its ideals to one's own inner nature. Interestingly enough, The Confucian philosopher Mencius from around that time depicts Yangism as the direct opposite of Mohism. Where if mohism is the law alignment, yangism is chaos. He criticized the Yangists as selfish, ignoring the duty of serving the public and caring only for personal concerns. Mencius saw Confucianism as the "Middle Way" between Mohism and Yangism. Since while Mohism promotes the idea of universal love and impartial caring, the Yangists acted only "for themselves," rejecting the altruism of Mohism. According to Mencius, “Yang’s principle is, ‘Each for himself’ — which does not acknowledge the claims of the sovereign. Mo’s principle is, ‘To love all equally’ — which does not acknowledge the peculiar affection due to a father. To acknowledge neither king nor father being both seen as inhuman. Chinese Salvationist Religion Chinese salvationist religions is a term for a group of religions, many of which grew out of pure land buddhism that saw time more like a linear path which some form of divine salvation was going to rectify issues in. Originally the main figure in these was maitreya, the future buddha (Also called miroku, which is the name of the scripture Hikawa got his ideas from), who was seen closer to the second coming of Jesus in these sects. But later focus on him was replaced with a primordial mother goddess. Xiantiandao is the most important of these. In it a primordial mother goddess called Wusheng Laomu, (sometimes considered the same entity as Xi wangmu) created spirits to live with her in heaven, but who went astray falling out of it into what we see as the material world, and samsara. And so could not easily return until saved. And so enlightened beings from the source are sent to enlighten people who then can return. (In this sense it is close to gnosticism). The first of these being dipankara buddha, the second being the historical buddha, and the third being maitreya in the future who will save the remaining people left in samsara. As the focus is on a primordial deity superior to all other gods, Xiantiandao sects claim to represent a Way (Dào) that transcends, comes before, and thus overcomes all existing religions. Consequently, a syncretism of features is noticeable in some groups. These sects were noted for being more egalitarian than other groups in china at the time, saying that as all people (including the sexes) were equally children of the great mother in heaven, that they should be treated equally on earth as well. Although these were less popular religions in ancient china, its possible that they saw western religions through this lens, explaining tying law to messianism. (Not to mention that maitreya here is simply a regular messiah.) They were often persecuted and seen as heretical or dangerous teachings. Chinese folk religion Also it should be noted that even though confucianism, taoism, and buddhism were considered the main religions in china, that local areas generally had their own local chinese folk religion variant as well. Many of the elements would be similar to those found in taoism or confucianism, (and later, buddhism) such as use of yin and yang, such that sometimes they were simply lumped into taoism by people trying to describe them. But this description is not totally accurate, since taoism at the time referred to specific teachings. Content here being vague, since it differed by area. One side fact to mention about them is that in many chinese or asian languages in general, the word four is pronounced similarly to the word death and so is seen as a taboo number, similar to the western ideas on 13. So the number four is often associated with death. This being a likely reason behind why there are four of the white. Huang Di, the Yellow Emperor, is a legendary ruler and the ancestor of Han people in China. According to legend, he fought against Chi You, the God of War, at the battle of Zhoulu and won securing the Central Plains of China of his people. He also fought against the giant Xing Tian. Legend has it that he also encountered a Bai Ze, who described to him all the 11,520 types of monsters, shapeshifters, demons, and spirits in the world, which was later recorded in the book "Bai Ze Tu" (a sort of Demonic Compendium if you will). The Wǔfāng Shàngdì ("Five Forms of the Highest Deity"), or simply Wǔdì ( "Five Deities") or Wǔshén (五神 "Five Gods") are, in Chinese canonical texts and chinese folk religion, the five main deities proceeding from the universal God. They have cosmological significance as they describe space as a tán 壇, "altar". According with the Three Powers they have a celestial, a terrestrial and a chthonic form. The Han Chinese identify themselves as the descendants of the Red and Yellow Deities. While most of them do not show up themselves, their mounts do. Kohryu, also known as Huang long means Yellow Dragon (黃龍). It reigns over the Si Xiang - celestial creatures in Chinese constellation - namely, Baihu, Xuanwu, Qinglong and Zhuque (seen below)- and is located in the center of the four beasts. Huanglong is sometimes regarded the same as Qilin from the Si Ling. It is the embodiment of the element of Earth in Chinese five elements (Wu Xing). In raidou 2, As a part of the Ritual of Unsealing, a Great Kohryu must be fought as well as most Ssu-Ling and Shouten. Later on, after the defeat of Amatsu Mikaboshi at the Confinement Chambers, the Great Kohryu gives Raidou the Thunder Taiko, which allows him to summon Great Kohryu on the map. He carries Raidou wherever he wishes to go in the capital through the air, in a similar way to the Large Tarrasque in both Raidou games. The Four Symbols '''or '''four holy creatures are four beings who represent four virtues. The Four Symbols were given human names after Daoism became popular. These mythological creatures have also been synthesized into the five principles system. The azure dragon of the East represents Wood, the Vermilion Bird of the south represents Fire, the White Tiger of the West represents Metal, and the Black Turtle (or Dark Warrior) of the North represents Water. In this system, the fifth principle Earth is represented by the yellow dragon of the center. Qing long. The Azure Dragon is one of the Four Symbols (四象) of Chinese constellations along with Vermillion Bird, White Tiger and Xuanwu. It represents the East, spring, the color azure (green/blue) and the Wood Element. In Japan, it is one of the four guardian spirits of cities and protects Kyoto. He is considered one of the mounts of the forms of the highest god in chinese folk religion. In some official English versions this demon is incorrectly translated as Long due to confusion between Four Symbols (Si Xiang) and four benevolent animals (Si Ling or Ssu-Ling) of China. In the original Japanese version, Seiryu or Qing Long represents one of the Four Symbols and Ryu or Long belongs to four benevolent animals which are fundamentally different. Known as Long, he is an optional boss in the Challenge Quest, Slaying the Dragon of the Lake. Found at Lake Mikado near Mikado Castle, he asks if Flynn has come to slay him. Answering yes has him attack and call him a fool for thinking he can slay him. After defeating it, the dragon admits to underestimating him and is surprised by his great power. He asks Flynn if he believes dragons to be "Enemies to be slain" or as gods of the land. Telling Long that dragons are just beasts to be slain shifts Flynn towards Law, while believing that dragons are holy spirits shifts him towards Chaos. He decides to leave the Lake after the battle. Byakko. The White Tiger is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese Constellation (Si Xiang) along with Azure Dragon, Vermillion Bird and Black Tortoise. (in game as seiryu, genbu, and Suzaku) It represents the West, the autumn season and the element of Metal (Wind in the Japanese system). During the Han Dynasty, people believed the tiger to be the king of all beasts. Legend had it that when a tiger reached 500 years old, its tail would turn white. In this way, the white tiger became a mythological creature. It was said that the white tiger would only appear when the emperor ruled with absolute virtue or if there was peace throughout the world. Because the color white of the Chinese five elements also represents the west, the white tiger thus became a mythological guardian of the west. It shows up as the main demon of the protagonist in the desu 2 anime. It is generally light neutral. Suzaku. The Zhu Que Vermilion Bird is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations (Si Xiang) along with White Tiger, Xuanwu and Azure Dragon. According to Wu Xing, the Taoist five-elemental system, it represents the fire element, the direction south and the season summer correspondingly. Thus, it is sometimes called the Vermilion Bird of the South and it is also known as Suzaku in Japan and Jujak in Korea. Occasionally confused with Feng Huang, although this confusion does make some sense when one is aware that non-Han variations of the Four Symbols consider the Feng Huang and the Suzaku as the same creature. Suzaku is an elegant and noble bird in both appearance and behavior, it is very selective in what it eats and where it perches, with its feathers in many different hues of Vermilion. Genbu. The Black Tortoise or Black Warrior is one of the four symbols of the Chinese constellation (Si Xiang) along with Azure Dragon, Vermillion Bird and White Tiger. It represents the north, the color black, winter and the water element. It is usually depicted as both a tortoise and a snake, specifically with the snake coiling around the tortoise. Gui Xian in some of the official English versions is a misnomer because "Gui" belongs to a different concept of the Chinese four benevolent animals (Si Ling or Ssu-Ling). The four fiends represent the four vices to contrast the four virtues. Note how the concept of the four fiends shows up in final fantasy also. The Taotie, also known by its Japanese name Toutetsu, is said to be a Chinese monster of unknown origin. It is said that it is a greedy monster with an insatiable appetite, and as punishment, only its head remains. Fear of the monster led its image to be cast on Chinese bronzes and ritual vessels. Along with Taown, Hun Dun and Qiong Qi, it is one of the Four Fiends, prominent Chinese demons representing evil virtues. Tao Tie represents gluttony. He is vile race. Konton. In Chinese mythology, the Konton or Hundun (混沌) was an entity of chaos that predated the world. It is sometimes described as a divine dog. Konton is known as one of the Si-xiong (4 Calamities) in ancient Chinese lore along with Tao Tie, Taown and Qiong Qi, said to be a large beast with six legs and four wings, with no organs to perceive the five senses, yet has innate and a large knowledge of dance and music. Likewise, it represents Chaos, attacking those who are good of heart and serve those of evil, having no sense of wrong or right. Taown. According to the book "The Monster That is History," by David Der-wei Wang, the Taowu is a monster of ancient China that, while skillful in divination and able to see the past and the future, is fierce and violent. The Taowu is said to appear with "a human face, a tiger's feet, a pig's feet and a tail 18 feet long." It is said to be so thoroughly stubborn that it would refuse to back down from a fight. Known as one of the Si-xiong (4 Calamities) in ancient Chinese lore along with Tao Tie, Hun Dun and Qiong Qi; it represents ignorance, misguiding man through its divination, throwing him off course of enlightenment while appeasing materialistic, unvirtuous and shallow desires. Kyuuki. In Chinese lore, the Qiongqi is a winged cross between a tiger and an ox. They are ferocious monsters. Known as a member of the Si-xiong (4 Calamities) in ancient Chinese lore along with Tao Tie, Hun Dun and Taown, they are representative of Depravity, born to give man no peace while attacking and assaulting those of honest and noble heart, while rewarding those of opposing and debased value.